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Russ Barenberg
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- Nashville, TN
- United States
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Russ Barenberg's Page
Latest Activity
Kathy Barwick commented on Russ Barenberg's blog post Clarence White Guitar reissue"Thank you Russ or reissuing this. Folks have been waiting for it!
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Russ Barenberg left a comment for Catherine Rosenblood"Hi Catherine--Very nice meeting you at Sorrento, and glad you're enjoying the music and the DVD. Perhaps I'll see you again up there some time. I really enjoyed the camp."
Michael Gurzi commented on Russ Barenberg's blog post Clarence White Guitar reissue"This is a great book and a must for all flat-pickers who want to study how CW did it. I was very fortunate of late to come across the original book, which is now in my library. Since it is out of print, this PDF is a fantastic idea! Thanks Russ..."
Russ Barenberg left a comment for Courtney Hartman"Hi Courtney--thanks for connecting. I enjoyed playing when you were in Nashville--hope things are going well at Berklee.
Best,
Russ"
Profile Information
- Tell us more about yourself (place a Bio here if you wish)
- Guitarist Russ Barenberg is known as one of the most melodic instrumentalists in contemporary acoustic music, and his compositions are among the finest the genre has to offer. He got his start in 1970 with the groundbreaking bluegrass band Country Cooking and since then has been a member of a number of highly influential groups, most notably his collaboration from 1989 to 2001 in a trio with dobro master Jerry Douglas and bassist Edgar Meyer. Russ’s 1979 debut solo album Cowboy Calypso showcased his sophisticated playing and immediately established him as one of the premier composers and arrangers in the new acoustic music scene. His work since then reflects an ever-deepening musicality with continuing dedication to vibrant, roots-based melodies and ensemble interplay. “Little Monk,” the opening track from When at Last, Russ’s 2007 release on Compass Records, was nominated for the 2008 GRAMMY for Best Country Instrumental Performance. The album was nominated for the IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year award.
Russ began playing guitar at 13 and was inspired early on by guitarists Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt, and Clarence White along with a wide range of old-time, bluegrass and contemporary folk and blues artists. While attending Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, in 1970, he joined with Peter Wernick, Tony Trischka, Kenny Kosek and John Miller to form Country Cooking. The group recorded two influential albums and accompanied mandolinist Frank Wakefield on a third, all for Rounder. Russ also played on a number of Tony Trischka’s albums throughout the 1970’s. In 1977 he moved to New York and, together with Trischka, Miller, and fiddler Matt Glaser, formed the eclectic string band, Heartlands. Heartlands backed Russ on many of the cuts on Cowboy Calypso.
Moving to Boston in 1979, he joined Glaser and fiddler Jay Ungar in the triple-fiddle band Fiddle Fever, recording two albums with the group. Fiddle Fever’s recording of “Ashokan Farewell” was later used as the centerpiece for the soundtrack to Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentary, The Civil War. Russ played on the soundtracks for several other Burns’ films as well. During this time, he also worked with Glaser and mandolinist Andy Statman in the bluegrass-jazz band Laughing Hands. He recorded his second solo album, Behind the Melodies, in 1983. That album, along with his appearance on Jerry Douglas’s 1982 release, Fluxedo, began an ongoing series of collaborations between the two musicians.
Russ moved to Nashville in 1986 and has lived there since. Along with Douglas, he worked for several years accompanying Irish singer, Maura O’Connell. In 1988 he recorded his third album, Moving Pictures, another beautiful collection of original instrumentals featuring Douglas, Edgar Meyer, banjoist Bela Fleck, and fiddlers Mark O’Connor and Stuart Duncan. The previously mentioned trio with Douglas and Meyer was a highly original group that further reshaped the direction of acoustic music throughout the 1990’s. Their popular 1993 recording, Skip, Hop & Wobble, strongly influenced a new generation of instrumentalists.
Russ has worked with many other top acoustic and country music artists including James Taylor, Emmy Lou Harris, Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, Paul Brady, Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham, Natalie McMaster, Alison Krauss, and Sharon Shannon. In 2008, he played on albums by legendary jazz bassist, Charley Haden, actor/comedian, Steve Martin, and songwriting great, Jesse Winchester. He is also known for his ongoing work on The Transatlantic Sessions, a series of television shows produced for the BBC in Scotland that bring together top acoustic musicians from the British Isles and the United States for collaborative performances. The fourth and most recent group of Transatlantic Sessions was filmed in March 2009.
Russ currently performs with his own group, The Russ Barenberg Trio, featuring Luke Bulla on Fiddle and Viktor Krauss on bass, as well as in a duo with guitarist Bryan Sutton.
- Do you have a website?
- http://www.russbarenberg.com
Russ Barenberg's Blog
Clarence White Guitar reissue
Hey fellow Clarence White fans. Just wanted you to know I've just released a digital edition of my book "Clarence White Guitar" (originally published by Oak Publications in 1978). It's available from the Digital Store on my website as a PDF download. The book contains transcriptions of much of Clarence's best playing from Appalachian Swing and from various other recordings as well:…
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Posted on November 23, 2009 at 11:42am — 2 Comments
Comment Wall (6 comments)
- At 5:02am on May 19, 2009,
John Bauman said… - Interesting that you'd join the FPG site the week I taught myself "Fat Mountain". I love the tune.
A fan,
John
- At 7:48am on May 27, 2009,
Roger Ferguson said… - Hey Russ, It's been a long time... We taught together at PSGW in WA several (1,000,000?) years ago! I just joined this a couple weeks ago - see you around!
- At 9:11am on June 8, 2009,
Ray Leeds said… - Hey Russ, I cant tell you how much you have influenced me over the years! I learned a lot of Moving Pictures years ago and still find myself playing and thinking more melodic as a result. I also teach out of your 20 flatpicking tunes. Probably should be sending you checks. In fact. My student and I just played When At Last at a recital last week and the audience loved it. Great simple melody to teach the students. Anyway it's your tasty melodies I've always loved. Even when you can pick with the best of them you still keep it simple. Balance for the FLATPICKING WORLD!
- At 3:51pm on June 12, 2009,
Marco Cavina said… - Ciao Russ,
nice to see you here, we met at Celtic Connections 2009 in Glasgow, it was great to see you play....ciao da Milano.
- At 8:08pm on September 28, 2009,
Jake Cohan said… - Love your music. Just got done learning "Return to Brandywine" from a previous Flatpik Guitar Mag. Keep composing great music.
- At 7:52pm on September 30, 2009,
Steve Blanchard said… - Hi Russ,
I've enjoyed your guitar playing for a long time. Are you coming to the Pacific Northwest soon? I'd like to set up some lesson time with you if your out this way...All the best...Steve
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Latest Activity
Dylan Harper posted a discussionMusic Software
Can anyone suggest a good audio or music slow downer? I bumped into this software called Song Surgeon but I still want to compare other software maybe there is a better one out there or this could be a good one already.See More
Dylan Harper replied to Russ Norton's discussion best way to practice to learn bluegrass solo breaks"Consider also on using software that will help you do that bro, Everything that I learned I use the power of software that will help me learn anything about music. "
Robert Naylor replied to Russ Norton's discussion best way to practice to learn bluegrass solo breaks"Sawdust - was that TablEdit? Website info looks good. I jammed for 2.5 hours with someone yesterday that just moved to our area from DC (said its a great bluegrass scene up there). Traded songs back and forth - just a blast. He had "stock…"
Making Sawdust replied to Russ Norton's discussion best way to practice to learn bluegrass solo breaks"Muscle memory, connecting chords with runs,,,,the program TabEdit.....(the real secret) and don't try to get fancy on breaks,,,just play the melody, most are real simple....once you start doing that, the hammer ons and pull off will just…"
Making Sawdust replied to Robert Naylor's discussion Camps (Kamps?)"Some day,,,for now will just catch Steve when he is doing a workshop in the hood........Tim and company don't seem to come east anymore.....
"
Making Sawdust replied to Jim Samuel's discussion Starting Over - With Essentials in the group Flatpicking Essentials"Trust and believe,,,you must,,,,must....find a group to jam with......somewhere around you is a jam group...bluegrass, Oldtime, folk,,,and all, yes,,,all of the jams I go to whether they are called bluegrass or Oldtime, play just about everything…"
Robert Naylor posted a discussionCamps (Kamps?)
Anyone going to picking camps this spring/summer? Already signed up for Kaufman Kamp at the end of June (2nd week bluegrass). Tim May is one of the incredible list of flatpicking instructors.
Robert Naylor replied to Russ Norton's discussion best way to practice to learn bluegrass solo breaks"Let's try and pick a night in the next couple weeks. Wednesday's are out - lesson/jam night. Happy to send a song list I'm working from. Robert@trianglecf.org"
Russ Norton replied to Russ Norton's discussion best way to practice to learn bluegrass solo breaks"I'd love to jam with you, maybe pick up some pointers... I have a loop pedal that I hook to my amp so I can jam with myself...also I use loopy on iPad ..very cool app..been playing g scale in different positions, some YouTube lessons,…"
Robert Naylor replied to Russ Norton's discussion best way to practice to learn bluegrass solo breaks"More succinct version of my previous reply. The Miller/May books are working for me. I also work a few minutes daily on scales and folded scales in G, C and D with a metronome. I recently signed up for weekly lessons with a local instructor to stay…"
Travis posted a discussionPerformance Setup
Hey fellow pickers. Recently I have started playing solo gigs around San Diego where I live. As it continues to expand, I find the need to expand my setup more to control my playing volume between rhythm and picking. Watching the Pros, i have noticed that a lot of them use a volume switch of some type, either via a volume pedal or a stomp switch, to increase and decrease volume from the setup depending on the playing mode. Does anyone have any feedback they can share on these types of…See More
Russ Norton replied to Russ Norton's discussion best way to practice to learn bluegrass solo breaks"I get started on the first couple of measures and just crash... I can play some fiddle tunes ok, but I want tobe able to improvise and just play the music... you know, not be a robot about it.."
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